


In a Letter

by ColoredGayngels



Series: 35 Ways to Say I Love You [13]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, Gen, the death isn't on screen but it happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 17:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11788212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColoredGayngels/pseuds/ColoredGayngels
Summary: Number six:Leave a note for your next of kin.Tell ‘em where you’ve been.Pray that Hell or Heaven lets you in.





	In a Letter

**Author's Note:**

> For Criss, love Mom.
> 
> and since it's been three months since i've really written anything, for me, love me.

Philip stared at himself in the mirror, his father’s instructions rolling around in his head. _Take one of my guns. Stand before him like a man. Aim your pistol at the sky. Make me proud, son._

He would. He would make Alexander proud if it was the last thing he did. Raking a hand through his curls, Philip sat at the desk in his room and picked up his quill. He dragged it across the page, taking his time despite what little he had. Finally, with his signature curled along the bottom, he folded the letter in half and carefully added his mother’s name to the outside.

Philip left it on his desk and made his way downstairs. He’d barely touched the handle of the front door when he heard a particularly loud creak from a floorboard behind him. He whipped his head around, searching for the source.

“Pip?” Philip looked toward the sound, his eyes coming to rest on those of his sister. They stared a moment before she spoke again. “Where are you going?”

Philip sighed, breaking away from Angelica’s gaze. “I have a meeting with someone,” he said quietly.

“But the sun isn’t up yet.”

“I know.” He looked back at her. “I’ll tell you all about it when I come home. Go back to bed, Angelica.”

“Alright.”

Philip didn’t watch his sister retreat to her bedroom, choosing instead to inspect the toes of his boots. When he could no longer hear her soft footfalls, he slipped out into the early morning and headed for the river.

* * *

 It was several weeks before Eliza was able to go into her eldest son’s bedroom. In all honesty, she still wasn’t ready, but they were moving and she refused to let anyone else go in, not even Alexander. She pulled the key from around her neck and turned it in the lock.

A fine layer of dust had settled over Philip’s room. His bed was neatly made, and nothing was out of place.

Nothing, except for a piece of paper on the desk addressed to Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

She picked it up gingerly, as though it would crumble to ash beneath her fingertips. She moved over to the bed, sitting down slowly. She wasn’t sure how long she simply sat there, eyes closed, breathing heavy, before she finally opened the folded paper.

 

_My dearest Mother,_

_If, by chance, you are reading this, then I have lost my duel with one Mr. George Eacker. The duel is to take place in Weehawken, New Jersey, on behalf of what Mr. Eacker said about Father during his Fourth of July speech last week._

_Father always told me I would blow you all away. I promise I will make you proud._

_I love you so much, Mother. Send my love to Angelica and the others. I’ll see you on the other side._

_Your son,_

_Philip Hamilton_

 

Eliza didn’t realize she was crying until a few tears landed on the letter, one making the ink beneath it run. She dragged her sleeve across her face in a panic, using the dusty blanket to dab the moisture off the page, afraid of ruining her son’s final words to her any further.

She set the letter on the night stand before letting herself weep freely, and that was how Alexander found his wife - asleep on Philip’s bed, head on her arms, tear stains on her cheeks.


End file.
